U.S. Futures Slide as U.S.–Iran Tensions Escalate After Cargo Ship Seizure
U.S. stock futures are lower in premarket trading as tensions between the U.S. and Iran escalated over the weekend with the seizure of an Iranian-flagged cargo ship. The moves come after solid gains last week with the S&P 500 (SPX), Nasdaq-100 (NDX) and Russell 2000 (RUT) settling at record highs on Friday. President Donald Trump said the U.S. had fired on and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman.
This comes after Iran declined to join another round of peace talks in Pakistan planned by the U.S. Trump also threatened to blow up all power plants and bridges in Iran if the country didn’t agree to a deal with the U.S. as the ceasefire is under pressure.
Oil prices are up over 5% on the geopolitical risks after falling over 12% last week on optimism for a resolution to the conflict. Headline risks are still impacting investor sentiment, but markets will also watch earnings, which ramp up this week. Results are due from GE Aerospace (GE), United Health (UNH), Boeing (BA), IBM, Tesla (TSLA) and Intel (INTC) among others.
Snapshot (as of 7 AM ET)
- Oil (/CL) – Crude oil prices are up 5% near $87 a barrel, as the U.S. and Iran teetered on the brink of a renewed war after attacks on commercial ships in the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz. Oil prices rebounded after the U.S. seized an Iranian ship, escalating tensions and dampening hopes for a near-term peace deal, following sharp volatility tied to the reopening and subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz, CNN.
- Gold (/GC) – Gold prices are down 1% near $4810 as the dollar firmed, while news the Strait of Hormuz is closed again pushed oil prices higher and revived inflation fears.
- Bitcoin (/BTC) – The Crypto Future is down nearly 3% near 75,200 in premarket trading.
- VIX – The CBOE Volatility Index was down 2.5% on Friday and settled at 17.48 as stocks were higher. It was the lowest closing price for the VIX since February 9th . The VIX is up over 10% this morning as stocks are under pressure.
- U.S. Dollar (/DX) – The dollar is relatively flat in the session, trading at 98.18.
Biggest Premarket Movers (as of 7 AM ET)
- MARVELL TECHNOLOGY (MRVL) +5.71%
- APA CORP (APA): +2.41%
- CF INDS HLDGS INC (CF): +2.06%
- OCCIDENTAL PETE CORP (OXY): +1.78%
- DOW INC (DOW): +1.69%
- UNITED AIRLINES (UAL): -2.75%
- COINBASE GLOBAL (COIN): -2.58%
- DELTA AIR LINES INC (DAL): -2.61%
- CARNIVAL CORP (CCL): -2.46%
- ROYAL CARIBBEAN (RCL): -2.44%
Economic Data
11:30 AM ET: 3 and 6-Month Bill Auctions
Notable Earnings
- Premarket: CLF
- Postmarket: ALK, STLD, WTFC, ZION
- Premarket Monday: MMM, DHI, DHR, EFX, GE, GPC, HAL, NTRS, NOC, DGX, RTX, SYF, TSCO, UNH, VMI
- Postmarket Monday: OZK, COF, CB, EQT, IBKR, ISRG, PEGA, SON, UAL, WRB, WAL
Upgrades/Downgrades
- Aletheia upgrades Texas Instruments (TXN) to Hold from Sell
- Barclays upgrades Okta (OKTA) to Overweight from Equal Weight
- Jefferies upgrades Ulta Beauty (ULTA) to Buy from Hold
- KGI Securities downgrades Intel (INTC) to Neutral from Outperform
- Mizuho downgrades Skyworks (SWKS) to Underperform from Neutral
- Mizuho downgrades Qorvo (QRVO) to Underperform from Neutral
Featured Clips
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